Laura Stack creates ink paintings and collages that are an imagined view of artificial life or the
“new natural”. Her painting process begins by envisioning a fluid, bodily, cellular, or chemical world expressing its own laws of physics. Organic forms such as fungi and microscopic life and the biological processes of lava flow and branching inspire the painting imagery. She coaxes the ink across the paper’s surface, corralling, halting, spreading, and encouraging its direction. The ink shapes then morph into tendrils or bloom and disperse. Through physical gestures and the fluidity of the ink, she aims to create a sense of pulse and movement.

Stack’s work evokes contradictions – the embodiment of the natural and synthetic, the simultaneity of flatness and depth, and the illusion of movement within a still image. There is no logical reading of these paintings. They are a mirroring of the mysterious questions that define our changing relationship with the natural world. See more of Laura’s artwork at laurastackart.com

OPEN DOOR is the one time of year when Rosalux opens its doors to artists outside of the collective in the form of an open call to bring inside what is happening outside of the gallery doors and give them an opportunity to share their work with our audience.

JUROR: DANIELLE KRYSA, AKA The Jealous Curator thejealouscurator.com/blog Krysa has a BFA in Visual Arts, and a post-grad in graphic design. She is the writer/curator behind the contemporary art site, The Jealous Curator (est.2009). Danielle has curated shows from Washington DC to Los Angeles, San Francisco to Toronto. In 2014 she published two books, titled “Creative Block” and “Collage”. Her third book, “Your Inner Critic Is A Big Jerk” was released in October 2016, and she is currently working a new book due out Fall 2018. Danielle has also had the great pleasure of speaking at TEDx, PIXAR, Creative Mornings, CreativeLive, and was interviewed for several video segments on oprah.com.

JUROR’S COMMENTS ON WORK SELECTED FOR THE EXHIBITION:

“A gorgeous grouping of art, hung together under one, simple, unifying theme – I love this stuff! I really do, and here’s why. The pieces in this show are the work of 21 artists from all over North America, each with their own unique use of materials and personal point of view. Every piece – from drawings to paintings to sculpture – tells its own story but together, in this particular grouping, the narrative gets even more interesting. A metal dog makes friends with a bandaid mandala, while a text covered mirror in the corner speaks quietly to an unconventional
scientific-esque timeline. Weird and wonderful, unique while strangely harmonious.”

Melissa Loop uses her travels to explore notions of authenticity, place, and spirituality through our experiences of other cultures. Follow the Moon is inspired by her trips to Central America in 2012 and 2015 when she visited ancient Mayan sites. While her paintings are based on reality, the compositions are purposefully invented in an attempt to recreate rare moments of spiritual transcendence one encounters when taking a pilgrimage to a sacred place. With this particular group of paintings, Loop focused on exploring the space between imagination, reality, spiritual transcendence, and dreams. By doing this, she is weaving a tale of a pilgrim coming out of a deep sorrow and finding the origin of life.

Tie Yourself to Me, 2017, Synthetic polymer on panel, 18 x 24″

In Voiceatscript, Ute Bertog continues to explore the tenuous relationship between abstraction and language in her paintings to address themes of communication and its failure. For Voiceatscript she focuses on a deeply felt sense of speechlessness. Being speechless and without words to articulate one’s thoughts and opinions is seen either as a defiant gesture or – more often – as a sign of powerlessness. In order to regain a sense of power Bertog then reaches for readymade texts, quotes, and cliches as a starting point for her paintings, only to lose them again in the painting process. The goal is to introduce the necessary space for questions, imagination and play to take hold to freely renegotiate original content.

Betsy Alwin will show her concrete and metal sculptures at Silverwood Park, Kolman & Pryor Gallery, and Minnesota State University during September and October.
INFRA: Betsy Alwin at Silverwood ParkInfra is a new outdoor concrete and metal sculpture that will be shown on the grounds of Silverwood Park, Three Rivers Park District, in St. Anthony, MN.
Opening Reception: September 14th from 6:00pm – 8:00pm.Exhibition Dates: September 14th – October 21st.

“My interest in casting lace concrete forms is derived from my recent and current body of work that incorporates lace and ceramic form. I wanted to combine the delicate nature of lace with the harsh durability and weight of concrete. The decorative lace texture combined with the contrast of blue and white refers to domestic ware but also allows one to see the forms in a different way. These cast forms are combined with rebar, emphasizing an industrial and construction context. I am also excited to experiment with larger forms in an outdoor public setting. In this way, my work can engage more viewers for longer periods of time.The title, “Infra-,“ is derived from Latin meaning under or below. Besides being the prefix of infrastructure, I also take it as a way to connote what is there but not seen; what is taken for granted.

About Jim Hittinger’s GRAVEYARD SHIFT:Graveyard Shift explores a sparsely populated world littered with empty lots, depleted suburban subdivisions, and chain-link fences tracing the confines of sites where things once were. Beacons and warning signs mark isolated islands of activity within the void: flags, sirens, neon markings on diseased trees, used car lot inflatable dancing men. The entire world is the outskirts of somewhere else. On the surface the world appears lifeless, but its inhabitants go through the motions of living; they celebrate holidays, bury their dead, and play baseball.

Snowman, 2016

Jim Hittinger received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan in 2012 and a Master of Fine Arts degree from The University of Minnesota in 2015. His work has been widely exhibited locally and nationally, including recent exhibitions at Whitdel Arts in Detroit, Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, and Rosalux Gallery in Minneapolis. He currently teaches in the Department of Art at The University of Minnesota. Jim Hittinger

Shannon Estlund, Untitled, oil on canvas, 48 x 60”, 2017

About Shannon Estlund’s LOW VISUAL DISTANCE: Shannon Estlund’s abstracted landscapes are inspired by Rice Creek and the surrounding forest near her home in Fridley, Minnesota. The title Low Visual Distance refers to the way that dappled light, physical obstructions, and abstractions of form complicate an objective understanding of these spaces. Instead, the paintings offer a psychological interpretation of each site. The subjects of the paintings, which include downed trees, stagnant pools, and tangles of brush, demonstrate various states of growth and decay. Subjects are rendered using overlapping imagery, expressive color, repeating pattern, and abstracted form as a metaphor for a subjective and ever-changing perception of reality. The paintings in this exhibition represent a practice in becoming comfortable with the unknown and appreciating the impermanent and interdependent nature of all things.

Fifty Three Degrees, 2017

Shannon Estlund holds a Master of Fine Arts in Visual Studies from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and received her B.F.A. from the University of Florida. Shannon currently teaches at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and Augsburg College. She has received several grants for her work from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Community Foundation. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally at museums and galleries including the Crisp Ellert Art Museum (FL), the Elmhurst Art Museum (IL), Soo Visual Art Center (MN), the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens (FL), and at the National Galleries of Scotland. Her work has been featured in New American Paintings and Studio Visit magazines. Shannon Estlund is a fiscal year 2017 recipient of an Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. Shannon Estlund

Join NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota at the Hair and Nails Gallery for our 2nd Annual Art Salon. Come to mingle, admire and purchase the work of local artists, and support a good cause! 100% of proceeds go to NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota.
There is a suggested $10 donation at the door.

Amelia Biewald:

In a style that has become distinctly her own, Amelia Biewald intertwines imagery of romantic and powerful female figures, animals, real and imagined histories, and landscapes. Employing a wide range of materials, she creates lands full of sensual and alluring surfaces and textures, often combining references to the Old Masters and Surrealism with contemporary culture. Biewald mingles fact with fiction to recreate fables or intrigues. She captures states of transformation and curious unions seeking the pinnacle of a supernatural beauty.

Sausage Walkers, 2017, watercolor on rag paper, 11 x 11 inches.

In her upcoming show at Rosalux Gallery, Treats, Biewald paints her recent research into Renaissance eating and banquet culture. She creates scrumptious and alluring food presentations appropriate for the grandest dinner party. No grocery stores, no pre-packaged meats. During the Renaissance, if you could catch it, you ate it, and usually ALL of it. Let’s just say we are very picky and boring in our eating habits as compared to those of the 16th century…and the display of our comestibles is far less grand.

Artist Bio

Amelia works with a wide variety of materials creating painterly drawings and sculptural works, which often culminate in large multi-textural installations. She received a BFA from The Rhode Island School of Design and Goldsmith’s College, University of London and then pursued installation artwork at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design where she received her MFA. She has received various artist awards, residencies and fellowships for her work including The Skowhegan School Of Painting & Sculpture Residency, a Bush Foundation Fellowship and a Jerome Foundation Fellowship. She recently completed artist residencies at Art Garda, Sirmione, Italy and The Wassaic Project, NY. Amelia’s solo exhibition Autour De La Fin Du Monde was on view at The Soo Visual Arts Center in 2016.

John Gaunt

I have an empiricist approach to making. In recent years I have been developing a kind of “graphic scaffolding” inspired by weather and the shifting architecture of rivers. This scaffolding or intuitive gesture has become a malleable motif for me across artistic processes – allowing me to generate new combinations of abstract structures, illusionistic spaces and diagrammatic drawing. The accumulation of this practice is beginning to yield a kind of personal topology.

Mend, Oil on Canvas, 22″ x 26″

Artist Bio

John Gaunt has been active in university teaching since 1995. Educated in the United States and abroad, he maintains a studio practice in Minneapolis that embraces generative processes through painting, drawing and model building. Gaunt is a member of Rosalux Gallery in NE Minneapolis where he exhibits his work annually.

Building on a career that began as a realist painter, Gaunt has distilled his research into an abstract language that is at once gestural and restrained. Interested in the idea of painting and drawing serving as a proposition, the work offers closure yet resists naming – a desirable tension that occupies his current practice.

His work has been exhibited regionally and nationally and acquired in both public and private collections. He has held numerous visiting artist and guest lecturer positions including, the Burren College of Art in Ireland, the International Academy Neukloster Germany, School of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Kansas, Gustavus Adolphus College, Cazenovia College, University of Minnesota, Hamline University, and University of Wisconsin Stout.

Rosalux Gallery presents “Vivid Relics” – a new exhibition featuring the dynamic
paintings of Shawn McNulty and folk-inspired works by Michael Sweere. Each artist
creates work that commands the attention of the viewer, and both McNulty and Sweere
are featured in the U.S. Bank Stadium art collection.

Shawn McNulty’s signature abstractions have evolved over the past 20 years into a
more organic territory with some subtle ties back to his geometric pieces with rigid
edges. He utilizes a “shoe palette knife,” which allows him to work the canvas on the
floor with his feet, along with random tools like a Swiffer and pieces of plastic. The
result of this process is refreshing and innovative forms comprised of thick acrylic and
pumice, along with his masterful grasp of color theory. McNulty is essentially an action
painter, but there’s a heavy dose of energized color fields throughout his work, which
lend itself to a “calmness over chaos” vibe. His work can be found in private and
corporate collections all over the world including that of General Mills and President Bill
Clinton.

With the recent installation of his mural at the new Webber Park Library in Minneapolis,
Michael Sweere shifts gears and brings something completely different to Rosalux
Gallery in June. Mr. Sweere’s affinity of American folk art is evident in his newest
installation. A detour from his familiar mosaic work, the exhibition features a wide
range of polychromed (painted) woodcarvings. His characters – inspired
by imagination, native tales and urban folklore invite viewers of all ages to experience
the wonder of “Folk-O- Rama.”

Time/Keep : David Malcolm Scott and Rebecca Krinke

Rosalux Gallery is pleased to announce Time/Keep, an exhibition of new work by David Malcolm Scott and Rebecca Krinke featuring a large-scale sculptural work by Rebecca and a suite of paintings and drawings by David. The exhibition brings together the artists’ shared interest in time and memory, with a particular interest in what can be remembered or recorded and what can only be sensed or imagined.

David Malcolm Scott presents a new series of works exploring time and place – featuring a 30’ long watercolor scroll that literally starts with the formation of galaxies and moves forward through terrestrial epochs. David then uses this piece with its timeline format to add small scroll paintings above and below to reveal memories and dreams of one person’s life, in this case, the artist himself.

Time and place are highlighted in different ways in David’s two other series on view: in Weekly Commute, vivid slices of the sky are seen framed by dramatic building silhouettes, and in the stylized landscapes, the deep time of geological formations are juxtaposed with the more fleeting forms of forests, grasses, cities, and skies.

Rebecca Krinke presents a large installation, The Keep, which creates a domestic, psychological space of wonder and terror. The Keep continues her series of bed sculptures, although here a charred 4-poster bed hangs from the ceiling, upside down, bound by black-feathered walls – becoming a more abstract container/portal of space. Stacks of her dozens of black bound notebooks are visible but inaccessible on the burned wood floor below.

“Keep” as a noun originated in the Middle Ages, and was a place used as a refuge of last resort should the castle fall to an adversary. Rebecca’s installation evokes questions about what we keep, where we keep, and the costs of keeping: memories, secrets, notebooks, relationships, possessions, houses…This work and her larger practice is both highly personal and collective – in its explorations of private, public, and liminal space.